From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Five days after the vehicle carrying five persons plunged into a river in Assam’s Sivasagar district, rescuers found it Wednesday with the help of a 10 kg magnet, officials said here.
The magnet helped Assam State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel who were part of the large rescue team, to detect and retrieve the Swift D`zire with five bodies in it from River Dikhow in Sivasagar district of Assam on Wednesday.
The car with bodies in it was recovered about 10 meters away from the spot where it had fallen in the river. State Additional Director General of Police (Fire and Emergency Services), Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said it was a team effort that succeeded in retriving the car and the bodies.
He informed that the SDRF team on a boat led by Mantu Orang could trace the vehicle by using magnet and two SDRF divers Pankaj Subba and Dilip Orang located the vehicle underneath water.
One Engineer Vikramjeet Kakoti had suggested the SDRF to use a big piece of magnet to trace the car and the 10-kg magnet was brought from Assam Magnetic Company in Dibrugarh by the SDRF on Wednesday night.
The car belonged to a Guwahati-based businessman, Haren Bora who was driving it on the fateful night of September 1 along with four other family members – his mother, his wife, and two daughters. The vehicle plunged into Dikhow River along with all the inmates.
The five bodies recovered were of Haren Bora, his mother Ponou Bora, his wife Phunu Bora and two daughters – Chimpi Bora and Munmi Bora.
The rescue operation was started by NDRF and SDRF personnel on September 2 and was joined by Army divers from Spear Corps in Dimapur. The Navy divers joined the operation on September 4 morning.
The Indian Navy divers, who were brought from Eastern Naval Headquarter in Visakhapatnam on September 3, used Side Scan Sonar on September 4 to trace the car underneath the muddy water of Dikhow River with strong current. (With added inputs from PTI)
